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US Sued Over Syphilis Experiments in Guatemala

15 March 2011 02:47 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“ APA. Two U.S. law firms have filed a class action lawsuit against federal health officials in the case of some 700 Guatemalans whom U.S. scientists deliberately infected with syphilis in the 1940s, APA reports quoting â€œThe Voice of Americaâ€.

The case was filed Monday in Washington . The firms say they acted after the U.S. government did not respond to a letter requesting pre-litigation discussions of a settlement for the victims and their legal heirs.

According to the lawsuit, the-then Department of Health, Education and Welfare subjected the Guatemalans to experiments designed to learn about the course of the venereal disease.

The lawsuit alleges the Guatemalans were infected without their knowledge or consent. The suit says it is unclear how long the experiments continued or whether the medical teams provided a cure for those impacted by the disease. Those affected included prisoners, soldiers as well as patients in mental hospitals.

In October 2010, the U.S. government apologized to â€œall the individuals who were affected by such abhorrent research practices.â€ U.S. President Barack Obama has appointed a bioethics panel to investigate international medical studies.